Take Note

Staying Connected

Even with more than 2 feet of snow blanketing the Washington region
and local television broadcasters reporting that all schools were
closed, Lianna Cramer managed to make it to class on time.

The 10-year-old simply rubbed her eyes, rolled out of bed in her
blue pajamas, and logged on to her family's computer. Sure, she could
have been putting the finishing touches on her new igloo, but for
Lianna, learning about dividing decimals was almost as fun.

Thanks to her technology-addicted 4th grade teacher, Aron Sterling,
Lianna and several of her classmates from Canterbury Woods Elementary
School in the Washington suburb of Annandale, Va., the snowstorm wasn't
a complete learning shutout.

"It was neat to use the computer to learn," Lianna said last
week.

Mr. Sterling, who admitted that he'd been eager to hold class using
the computer in the past, said the February snowstorm motivated him to
take the plunge.

Using the Fairfax County school district's Web site, Mr. Sterling
sent an e-mail to his students' parents every night announcing what
time class would start the following day. The last class he held began
at 8 a.m. —an hour before classes normally begin at the school of
about 600 students.

Of the 23 pupils in his class, Mr. Sterling had as many as 10 log on
for class one day, while only one student ditched sledding for
schooling another day. The online lessons about fractions and, of
course, the weather, usually lasted about two hours. Mr. Sterling even
sent the children out for recess.

"I had to tell them that it was OK to go out and play," he said,
laughing. "They wanted more and more."

Matt Powell said that he was getting a little bored at home as one
snow day turned into a whole week out of school. After playing with his
cat, Stitch, watching cartoons on TV, and getting into snowball fights
with his friends, there wasn't much left to do.